PPSR check Tasmania: $2 government certificate included, from $12.95

The finance side works exactly as it does on the mainland. The certificate lists any security interest registered against the VIN and names the secured party. Write-offs work too: Tasmania records statutory and repairable write-offs on the national register, so a Tasmanian write-off appears on the certificate with its classification and incident codes.

The stolen line is where Tasmania differs. Tasmanian stolen-vehicle records are not supplied to the PPSR, and the certificate prints a line saying Tasmanian stolen vehicle information is unavailable from the service. A clear stolen result on a Tasmanian car therefore means "no mainland record", not "not stolen". Our verdict says this plainly rather than reporting a clean result.

The certificate still prints the plate, expiry, make, model and colour held against the VIN, which you can compare with the Transport Tasmania free check.

The $2.00 search at ppsr.gov.au is available to any Tasmanian buyer with the full VIN. The Transport Tasmania free rego check prints no VIN, so you will need to read it off the compliance plate or the registration papers. The certificate is the same one we deliver.

For $12.95 we add the plate lookup, a verdict that flags the stolen-data gap for every Tasmanian car, the certificate unaltered and a free re-run on typos. For $27.95 the report decodes any write-off codes, lists open recalls, adds build data for newer cars and includes a free finance re-check within 14 days. The $2.00 search fee is itemised on every receipt.

Transport Tasmania keeps a written-off vehicle register for Tasmanian cars and feeds the national data. A statutory write-off cannot be re-registered. When a Tasmanian car is declared a repairable write-off, its registration is suspended until a Transport Inspector clears it after repair. Insurers, assessors, dealers, dismantlers and auction houses must notify a write-off within seven days of the assessment.

Tasmania also notes that it cannot amend or remove records created by another state. If a Hobart car carries a mainland write-off entry, any correction has to come from the state that made it.

Private buyers, often buying a car shipped over on the ferry, are the main hand searchers. Dealers must sell cars free of encumbrances and search as routine. Lenders search before financing and register their interest. Auction houses supply certificates with lots.

Because of the stolen-data gap, Tasmanian buyers have one extra step the mainland does not. Ask the seller for proof of ownership and compare the VIN on the compliance plate with the registration papers. If anything does not line up, consider checking with Tasmania Police.

1. Enter the Tasmanian plate and select TAS, or type the VIN from the compliance plate.
2. Confirm the make, model and year we return from the plate lookup.
3. Choose the $12.95 certificate or the $27.95 report and pay.
4. Read the verdict, including the note on Tasmanian stolen data. The certificate PDF arrives by email within minutes.

• Whether a Tasmanian car is stolen. Tasmania does not supply that data to the PPSR.
• The balance owing on any finance. Ask the secured party for a payout letter.
• Previous owners. Tasmania does not sell an owner-count report to the public.
• Service history, odometer accuracy or the quality of repairs after a write-off.